Love Across the Universes
by T'Be
Summary: An AU reunion fic. Spoilers for 2nd season & Journey's End. Had to bring them together cause it's just too sad otherwise.


Disclaimer: I don't own the good Doctor. Never even had the privilege to travel with him. Maybe one day...

A/N: I was very unhappy with the ideas proposed in "Journey's End" because I didn't feel Rose could be happy with the Doctor still doomed to wander the universe without her. I would look at the still picture I have taken from "Doomsday" with the tear trickling down his face as they lose contact on the beach and I just couldn't accept it. Also, I feel that they must have been intimate at least once because the Doctor seemed too hopeful to me in "Doomsday" when she mentioned a baby. I can't imagine him being that happy if he thought she'd moved on and gotten pregnant by Mickey or someone else.

Also, I'm American, so please bear with my attempts to portray a British world.

Love Across the Universes

Rose Tyler awoke groggily from her dream. No, she corrected, not a dream. Her heart rate accelerated. The TARDIS! She had felt the mind of the TARDIS once before and there was no doubt in her mind that it was reaching her. She thought back, but couldn't remember anything except the TARDIS asking her where she was. Strange. Rose looked at the alarm clock. It was 530 am and there was no point in trying to get another half hour of sleep even though she wondered if she'd get answers if she could dream. She pulled a dressing gown around herself and headed downstairs. Her mother was fussing over the stove.

Jackie turned around at the sound of Rose's entrance and smiled. "Morning..." Her voice trailed off.

"Rose, what's wrong?"

"I felt the TARDIS!"

Jackie shook her head. "Honey, it's been almost 5 years. He's not coming. He said it wasn't possible. You've got to accept that and start living your life."

But Rose only shook her head harder. "I've got a life. I have you and Dad and Charlie. You're a great family. And I have good friends. Mickey and Jake are wonderful. And I enjoy my job at Torchwood."

Jackie turned back to the tea kettle and took it off the unit. She poured Rose a cup and handed it to her.

"You've had one date in 5 years! And you told me yourself you didn't even stay through dinner!"

"Mum, in the middle of dinner Michael asked if I liked to travel? Michael has no idea of the travels I've done. I've realized I can't date. I love the Doctor. I'll never stop loving him. You've got to understand."

Her mother grew still and there was a tinge of anger in her voice. "Don't you think I do? What do you think it was like when your father died? I loved him so much."

Rose mentally kicked herself for her insensitivity. Setting her tea cup down she went and hugged her mother. "I'm sorry. Of course you understand. I never should have said that. But you also know that you eventually got Dad back in a very real way. Maybe it'll work out for me too."

"What's going on?" Pete asked as he entered the kitchen.

Rose turned from her mother's embrace and faced her father. "The TARDIS contacted me!"

He stared at her. "The TARDIS. Not the Doctor?"

"It was the TARDIS. I couldn't sense him. But the TARDIS wanted to know where I was."

"That's silly," Jackie said. "He knows where he left you."

Rose's face fell and Jackie regretted her phrasing. But before she could speak, Charlie darted into the room. The 4 year old was all smiles and still wearing his race car pajamas. "Mummy, Daddy, Rose! Look! There's something on the telly. It's a blue box and it's talking to Rose."

The three adults tore into the living room.

"Rose. Rose." An echoing feminine voice emanated from the speakers.

"I'm here!" Rose cried, staring at the familiar shape of the TARDIS as it was projected on the screen.

The image wavered for a moment, transforming into words that Rose thought to never have seen again: "Bad Wolf." And then, with a sudden shriek the image vanished, to be replaced by the morning news show.

Rose collapsed to the floor shaking and crying. Her brother threw his arms around her. "Don't cry. Mummy why is Rose crying?"

Jackie had dropped down besides her and pulled her sobbing daughter to her. Pete reached for Charlie's hand. "Come on. Let Mummy help her, ok. Why don't you go get dressed. We're going to go on a little trip so I need you to be really good. Can you do that?"

Charlie smiled and nodded. "And Rose will be happy?"

Pete reflected on the phrase for a moment and then reassured Charlie. "Yes, I really think she will."

* * *

The Tyler family piled into their Land Rover and began the trip to Norway. There was relative quiet for the first half hour punctuated only by Charlie's repeated attempts to figure out what was going on. He didn't seem to be satisfied with the simple line that they were going on a trip. Finally Pete explained that they were going to see if they could find a friend of Rose's. Soon the motion of the car lulled Charlie to sleep and complete silence took over. The hours passed with Rose occasionally making a muffled cry into her fists before she would return to keeping her face pressed closely to the window, staring blankly as the scenery passed by.

Eventually Jackie couldn't deal with it anymore. She'd never been good at silence and everything was welling up inside of her. "If he comes, are you going with him?"

"Jacks," Pete warned, but Rose didn't seem to mind her mother's query.

"It's ok, Dad. Mum," her voice quivered. "I love him."

"What if you can never come back? What am I going to tell Charlie?"

"Mum, please. You know I love Charlie. But at some point doesn't every big sister have to leave home?"

There was a prolonged quiet while Jackie thought things over. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I know how you've missed him all these years. I was being selfish."

There was another hiatus in conversation until Rose said softly. "I just hope I can be with him. I'm worried that I didn't hear him. I was in contact with the TARDIS, but I don't know what's happening to him."

"I'm sure he's alright. You know how he always gets though everything," Pete pointed out.

"Who's alright?" Charlie piped up, wiping sleep from his eyes.

"My friend, the Doctor." Rose explained turning towards him. "You remember I told you about him?"

"He had you go into a ship with him, right? And you saw monsters." Charlie paused, remembering everything he'd heard. "And he helped Mum and Dad find each other when they were lost."

Rose smiled at his simplified description. "Yes."

They stopped for food and to use the facilities and then resumed the journey. The rest of the hours passed with a lighter mood. Rose, desperate to keep from getting her hopes up, played road games with her brother. Pete held Jackie's hand for long periods of time as each of them thought of what it felt like to be separated from their love and knowing what Rose had been going through. Jackie's gratitude to the Doctor for bringing Pete back to her warred with her sorrow that his absence had caused Rose so much pain. As if reading her mind Pete said softly, "Don't you think that their love has been worth her pain? Would you have chosen never to be with me if someone would have warned you that you'd end up with such a broken heart?"

Jackie squeezed his hand tighter. "I'd never give you up. Suffering without you for 20 years was worth the 4 years of love we did have. It was worth everything."

Pete brought Jackie's hand to his lips and kissed it briefly. "I only had to be without you for a few months. It was the hardest time of my life. And seeing you worse than dead was so bad I can't describe it. But I'd live it a hundred times over just because of what we'd had before. And I never thought I'd get you back again. I know I don't say it often enough, Jacks, but I love you."

Jackie held his hand tightly to her chest. "I love you too. And I know you love me. We were meant for each other."

Pete noticed the sign for Darlig and turned the car onto the rough road. Rose suddenly broke off mid sentence in the alphabet game with Charlie. "I can feel him. I really do."

They approached the beach as they had done years before. Only this time Mickey was absent and Charlie was out of the womb. Pete parked the Land Rover at a spot at the end of the beach and Rose tumbled out of the vehicle with Jackie not far behind. The wind whipped around them and the salty spray stung Rose's face. She scanned the sky. Nothing.

"Doctor! Where are you?" She cried out. But no one answered and Rose fell to the sand. She was shaking and crying and wanting to scream. Jackie came to comfort her but she pulled out of her mother's grasp and began to run, collapsing at the water's edge. Suddenly, Rose lifted her head as a sound she had thought was confined to her dreams forever became audible over the ocean roar. The TARDIS!

The blue box materialized. Rose was frozen in place. Her emotions were so intense she could scarcely breathe. The door opened and a blond haired man stepped out. For a moment Rose's heart sunk. Then his eyes met her, he smiled, and she felt the Doctor's presence. "Rose!" he cried and promptly collapsed on the sand. Rose ran to him and before she even could reach him the TARDIS dematerialized.

Jackie summoned Pete and together they got the Doctor into the back seat between Rose and Charlie. Charlie looked at the motionless man. "Is he dead?" he asked.

"No," Rose said softly, as she lifted her head from the Doctor's chest. "I hear his hearts beating."

"Where'd the TARDIS go?" Pete asked. "Who is this?

"I don't know where the TARDIS is. Something's not right. And the Doctor regenerated."

"Regenerated?" Pete repeated skeptically.

"I've seen it before," Jackie reassured Pete and quickly took charge of the situation. "Let's go home I'm sure he'll wake up soon."

Rose lifted the Doctor's hand to her heart and held it tightly. "This isn't the way I imagined you'd be when we met again. Please come back to me. Wake up. Oh God, please wake up."

* * *

After the long trip home, with stops only for food and facilities, they returned home. The dark night sky reflected the somber mood. The three adults carried him into the Tyler's house and laid him on the couch in the living room. Rose sat next to him, her face pale and her eyes still puffy even though she was sure she had cried until there was nothing left in her. Was it possible the TARDIS had just brought him back to her to die?

Jackie busied herself making tea, reminding Rose that Jackie's tea had revived the Doctor before. Pete and Charlie grabbed a quilt and a pillow and brought it to the couch. Rose lifted the Doctor's head and cushioned it with the proffered pillow while Charlie struggled to spread the quilt evenly over him. Pete and Rose smoothed it out. When Jackie returned with the tea she brought a spoon.

"Here, Rose. Try just a small amount on his lips." Rose dripped a bit of tea on them and waited. For the first time his breathing accelerated. His eyelids fluttered, but didn't open. She tried some more tea drops. Rose was surprised to hear her mother whispering, "Come on. Don't you dare do this to her." Suddenly Rose decided there was one crazy thing to try. The Doctor always was one for dramatics. Leaning down, trembling, she gently pressed her lips to his. There was no immediate response so she lifted her head back up, discouraged. And then she heard a sharp intake of breath. She watched in elation as his eyes opened. She had been wrong about having no more tears in her. They began to form. Rose was afraid to speak or move, horrified that it would all be a dream. But this time the Doctor lifted his head from the pillow, smiled his crazy grin. "Rose, I think I need to finish something. I love you." He began wiping her tears and then abandoned that futile act and threw his arms around her, pulling her down to him. She returned his embrace and began to sob into his shoulder.

Their reunion was interrupted by Charlie's loud query. "Rose, why are you crying? I thought you wanted to see the Doctor."

"Sometimes," she said turning to face her brother, but clasping the Doctor's hands tightly in her own, "people cry because they are so happy."

The Doctor smiled at the young boy. "You must be Rose's brother. How old are you?"

"I'm four!" Charlie declared proudly.

The Doctor looked surprised. "It's been four years?"

Rose glanced at the floor. "Nearly five." Finally she lifted her head up. "How long has it been for you?"

He looked her in the eye sadly. "Over a hundred years."

Sure that this was going to be more than what she wanted Charlie to hear, Jackie excused them to go put Charlie to bed. In her absence, no one spoke. The Doctor sipped at his tea, holding Rose's hand closely.

When Jackie returned she was openly curious. "So what took you so long?"

"Jacks," Pete hushed. "Maybe we should let them be."

"No," the Doctor said. "I'm sure Rose wants you all to know. Right Rose?"

"Of course. They're family."

"I'll give the shortened version for now, as I must admit I am quite fatigued."

"Still?" Jackie demanded.

"What does that mean?"

"Well," Rose explained, "You were sleeping or unconscious from Bad Wolf Bay and then for a while here."

"Oh." He shrugged. "Still tired."

Pete brought them back on track. "You were going to tell us about your past...century."

"Ah, yes. I was quite devastated at our separation, Rose. I didn't know if there was really a way to get back to this universe but I tried to research the time lines and parallel universe faults. Yet things were always intervening in my work. You know the drill. Same old aliens. Same old universes to save."

Rose smiled. "Yeah, I know. I've missed it. But I've missed you more."

He held her hand between his and proceeded with his account. "But then I encountered a group of Xyleniphians. Nasty people. They were familiar with the history of the Time Lords and knew the basics of the TARDIS. They began to try to steal her. They bruised me up pretty badly a couple of times, but you know the TARDIS, good old girl, she wouldn't open to them. I tried dodging them. After they set a trap with an attack on Earth they beat me up and attached a neutron/quark tracker. I couldn't get it detached before they had acquired a link to the TARDIS's main materialization unit."

"So what would happen if they had a link?" Jackie asked.

"They could track her anywhere, anytime. And that meant they could start attacking the TARDIS in an attempt to take over her. I would never be able to program her to take me to a specific place or time without them knowing where I was or the chances were good that eventually they'd capture her." The Doctor leaned his head back against the couch and continued wearily. "I could have traveled at random, never programming a destination. I have done so before in my past. But then, I could never try to come here. I couldn't write that off." He looked incredibly sad, and even though his body seemed younger than the one she had last seen him in five years before, he seemed even older.

"Rose, you accepted me after I dealt with the horrors of the destruction of my people. And you came back for me at Satellite 5. I don't know if you realize the magnitude of what you did when you absorbed the time vortex." He gently brushed a wisp of hair off her face.

"As I contemplated what to do, the words came. You must have set them there long ago when you had the power of time. 'Bad Wolf' was in huge letters on the TARDIS console.

"How did you find a way to breach the rift?" Rose asked.

"I mentally joined with the TARDIS and worked on finding the weakest spot between the two universes. I didn't know when that would be in your world. I was afraid I might be too late. That you'd wouldn't want me interfering in your life anymore."

"You know I'd never feel that way!" she assured him, the tears threatening to start anew.

"I think I probably knew that. I was also afraid so many years would have passed that you would no longer be alive. But together the TARDIS and I searched."

"I felt her reach for me, needing to know where I was."

"Yes. I was not in good shape after the abuse of the Xyleniphians and I honestly became so mentally and physically worn from the mental search through time and space that I regenerated. I don't even remember clearly when I last ate or slept."

"Why didn't you say something?" Jackie cried. "I'll go get you something. What would you like to eat?"

"Whatever you have on hand is fine, thanks." She disappeared into the kitchen reappearing moments later with a pile of cheese and crackers.

"Pete," the Doctor asked. "What made you come take Rose to your universe?"

"We could hear the other side of the wall as well as ours when the vortex began to open. I heard your screaming for her and knew something was wrong. I wouldn't have taken her otherwise."

"I appreciate that. And I can't tell you how important it was to me to know that she was safe with her family rather than trapped forever in the Void with Daleks and Cybermen."

Rose shuddered at the thought. Then she remembered. "The TARDIS! She disappeared when you landed."

The Doctor nodded. "She had to seal the rift. And she had to make sure that the Xyleniphians couldn't track her. She went to destroy herself." His voice fell flat and he closed his eyes for a moment in remembered pain.

"Oh, Doctor," Rose sympathized.

"She had known both our minds. She knew how important it was for us to see each other again. And how you had spoiled me. I could no longer just hop from spot to spot with no connection to anyone or anyplace. She willingly chose to sacrifice herself."

There was a long silence as Rose and her parents contemplated the importance of the loss and the depth of the Doctor's feelings for Rose. Finally Pete spoke.

"Why don't you and Rose go upstairs where you can get...reaccquantied with each other."

The Doctor met Pete's gaze. "Are you all right with--"

Before he could finish Pete broke in with a laugh. "Rose is an adult and this is her home as much as ours. You're welcome to stay where ever you like." He paused taking Jackie's hand. "Let me rephrase that—as long as you stay out of our bedroom you're fine!"

The other adults joined in laughing. Jackie echoed her husband's sentiment. "You guys have been apart long enough." She stood over and kissed Rose and then looked down at the seated Doctor. Impulsively she kissed him on the cheek. "To make up for the slap I gave you some years ago," she explained with a smile. "Hey, Pete. Why don't you get some clothes for him. I'll go find a toothbrush and stuff."

After a few more minutes, the Doctor was set with clean attire and personal supplies. He followed Rose into her bedroom with a surprising amount of shyness. "You know," he began, as he closed the door. "I used to dream of you. One time I had such a horrible dream. I dreamt that I created a clone for you to be with you in this universe. And you were happy with him, and I was left all alone missing you."

Rose shook her head. "That wouldn't work. I couldn't go on like that knowing the real you was somewhere out there, all alone."

"I know. But that dream stayed with me. You know I don't usually sleep much, so I don't have that many dreams."

Rose realized he was still standing merely inches from the door. Taking his hand in hers, she led him to the bed and he sat down. "I'm not trying to start anything," she reassured. "Although I wouldn't mind if we do something when you're ready," she amended coyly.

He squeezed her hand and smiled, suddenly resuming his normal demeanor. "As I recall we had a nice time once before."

She tensed reflecting back to their one intimate encounter. It had happened when they returned to the TARDIS after leaving the parallel universe (which, ironically, was now her home). Devastated by the second loss of her father and the horror of watching her mother's counterpart turned into a metal being, she had broken down. The Doctor, shared her sorrow, and reflected on his losses and expressed regret for introducing her to the kind of suffering he was accustomed to. She had reassured him she didn't regret being with him, and in the heat of the moment, it had turned physical. Unfortunately, the next morning he had begged her to return their relationship back into a platonic one. He said it was just too difficult to add that dimension into his life. Rose had been glad to have him in whatever capacity he was willing to share himself with her and they hadn't discussed it again. But when she had mentioned the word "baby" to him on the beach in Norway years before it had been obvious in his eyes that a part of him hoped their encounter had led to a child.

"In fact," he said pulling her chin up so he could look her in the eyes. "It was because it was so very enjoyable that I was afraid to repeat it. I was afraid I'd never be able to let you go. It had made my feelings for you come to the surface and made me feel alive in a way that I never thought to feel ever again after the end of the Time War. And look at me. I was right; I wasn't able to let you go."

She pulled his head down and began to kiss him, moaning as he passionately responded. And for the first time in a long time (whether five years or a century—it had been long enough for both), they were utterly happy.

_Please review!!_


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